Braces: Herbst appliance ?

[dreamin_disney]

I hope they've changed since I had one in the 80's. It was a horrible experience for me. They kept popping apart. My brother called me "hatchback" mouth. After a couple of weeks, I went to the ortho and told him to take it out or I would. (I think I was 15??) I swore up and down to wear my rubber bands religously.

I had 10 years of ortho from age 9 to 19. I had the behind the neck headgear, the over the head jock strap looking headgear, a tounge cage/crib, braces, herbst, permanent retainer, regular retainer and early on a retainer that for top and bottom that was connected and had cheek plates. Of everything I had, the herbst was the worst.

I hope the herbts has changed. Sounds like you had a really rough 10 years of ortho.

 

[Kiannna]

My Herbst Appliance.

My dentist noticed that my lower jaw is sitting in a position quite a bit behind the upper, and made an appointment for me to see an orthodontist.
The orthodontist agreed and said this problem could be fixed with the use of an Herbst appliance. She had her staff do impressions of my teeth.
I read a lot of horror stories about this appliance on the internet.
I understood that mine was going to be removable, but that could and often did mean removable by an orthodontist only.
I was very relieved when I was called to return this week and discovered that this is an appliance that I can actually remove by myself.
It looks like a retainer, but covers all my teeth with a clear acrylic, and is actually called a splint. It has telescoping arms and the connectors look like screws.
I spent the first six hours getting used to the feel of it. I experimented with drinking water from a cup, but was aware that like any retainer I should take it out when eating or drinking because it can get stained or broken. I also practiced talking with it. Because my lower jaw is now moved forward this took some getting used to in this new position.
At first my bottom lip looked really strange and appeared to be bigger.
I did get some abrasions on the inside of my lip and both cheeks from the connectors. I had orthodontic wax made for appliances but did not want to use it only if I had too.
I rinsed my mouth with water and salt solution, when I took the appliance out after the first six hours.
The second wearing there was no chafing at all.
My bottom lip has less of a protruding look and the appliance connectors in the front appear to be less visible.
With my teeth and jaws now aligned properly my profile appears to be improved.
The orthodontist said I would need to wear this Herbst appliance permanently like a retainer to keep this effect.

 

[traveljunkie]

My DD (10) got a flip-lock Herbst (the flip lock is supposed to make it more comfortable and enables her to go side to side to chew vs. just up and down...) put in 2 days after our 9 day WDW vacation on March 30. It is quite a mouthful of metal and my daughter who BEGGED me to allow her to get one because of her overbite, was crying and begging me the next day to have it removed . I regret that I gave her Tylonol because it did NOTHING for her pain. That night and the next day were terrible. I gave her Ibuprofin and it killed the pain. Slowly during that week it got better for her. Doc also recommended that she read outloud for 20-30 minutes a day for the first week to work on her speech. She put wax on the part that rubbed against her mouth and now those areas are conditioned and don't hurt. She doesn't complain about it AT ALL now. Good luck! I think in the long run your DD will be glad she did it.

 

[apnep]

My DS13 had it for 7 months, and it was not bad at all. Some mild discomfort and a few days getting used to the device but then he didn't even notice it. He has upper and lower braces now and has to wear rubberbands for a few months to finish correcting the bite but the rubberbands are a pain and here is why--he doesn't always want to wear them and a he is constantly playing around with them and then I find them all over the house because he flicks them off.

Go with the herbst, there is no hassle and it really just takes a few days for them to get used to. My son had the worst overbite and now his jaw and teeth look incredible. Plus it will take longer with the rubberbands.

Good luck!

 

[apnep]

After soreness goes away can they eat anything or limited?

One youtube adult said they hurt and she lost 20lbs omg! my dd is already skinny and doesnt need to loose weight. There were a few tweens that seemed toadjust ok with it so i'm hoping dd does too

Anyones else out there with advice , infor , comments???

My son ate everything, had no problems. We have an excellent orthodontist and he even introduced me to other young patients with the herbst appliance so I could talk to them because I was hesitant. See if you can talk to some other patients while you're there! Ask the kids what they think. I gave my son a tylenol on the days he had it adjusted for mild soreness, that's it and he was fine. Just make sure you have a great doc.

 

[apnep]

those who have kids with herbts how is it wwith yawning, getting dental cleaning check up, vomiting, sneezing. When it comes apart whats it like? Do u make an after call appt to dentist office - not sure if the medal arm thing will get in the way of her bite.

any other adive or tips

If it comes apart you can just pop it back in, not a big deal but I don't think you'll have a problem.

 

[Iloveaj01]

I'm 13, and I got my Herbst appliance not too awfully long ago, and I have two cousins stuck with the same curse.
My Herbst appliance rubbed my cheeks raw and bore holes where the four screws are, two on each side of my lips and two at the top. Not to mention, I have a palet expander, which irritated my tongue, giving me sores in 5 areas. I didn't have so much soreness of my teeth or jaw as did the huge, open sores that caused me to have trouble talking, eating, and pretty much everything mouth related.
Now, there is hope! I know the first few days are terrible, I couldn't even swallow drinks because every swallow meant my tongue rubbed against the expander, and it was very difficult to swallow any food because that stupid expander was in the way of any food making its way down. At first, it felt like there was literally no room for solid foods to be in my mouth, and there was way too much spit, like my mouth was a water balloon that never ran out of water.
BUT if you swish salt water (warm water stirred with regular table salt) in your mouth at least twice a day, brush your teeth, and then spray Medline Prevention burn and wound spray on it, you guys, my sores got a lot better. In fact, that's how I survive the first few weeks. Now, I know the prevention spray is for burns and stuff, but it's perfectly safe for your mouth and it helps a lot with the healing and the pain. If it gets really bad, take an ibuprofen.
I also used this thing called a Waterpik Ultra that's like this toothbrush hooked up to a tub of water, expect the toothbrush has all sorts of picks for cleaning in the spots where food gets stuck. It's kinda pricey ($45), but it was worth it for the ease of cleaning.
What else...oh! Dental wax! Yeah, I had no luck with the stuff. I tried the entire two packets full of wax my ortho gave me, and it never worked. I warmed it in my hands, dried the screw area before applying, even stuck it in the microwave, but it always ended up clumping off within a couple seconds and almost gagged on it several times. Not to put you down, it works for some people, but it didn't for me.
I ate lots of soup, especially plain broth when I was learning to swallow and chew, yogurt, pudding, water (obviously), but don't undereat! Eventually, after about the first week, I learned swallow a little better, although it never fully became normal. Still, the sores began to heal up after about two weeks, so don't think that because most people heal after five days that something is wrong, it will get better, I promise. I got mine on two days before Halloween, so I know how much it really sucks when you have about three choices of food, and you're starving but you can't eat a thing.
Just know that it will get better (and I feel bad saying this because everyone says that, right?), they really will, even if it always stinks. I mean, it still takes me an hour to eat a slice of pizza, but I'm only a few weeks in, and my cousin can eat tons of stuff.
Alright, well I've said a mouthful, so I'll get out of your hair. Hope you start to feel better, all you Herbsters!